The delivery of video content over the Internet is facilitated by adaptive bit rate techniques that respond to network conditions and device capabilities to provide users with the best or at least a consistent experience within currently available bandwidth. Selection of the initial bit rate for such techniques can be a difficult problem. If the initial bit rate exceeds currently available bandwidth, buffering delays may occur. If the initial bit rate is too low, the visual quality of the video content may be unacceptably low for a period of time; a serious issue for short-form videos.